The Who Dat Nation held a press conference today to address the role millions of Saints fans played in tanking the ratings for the exhilarating punting contest between the New England Patriots and the Los Angeles Scams.
Using their hoarse, inside voices for the first time since publicly declaring a boycott of the Super Bowl LIII and putting a hex on Roger Gotohell, officials Bill Vinovich, Gary Cavaletto, Todd Prukop, and Patrick Turner, and the Los Angeles Rams a couple of weeks ago, the Who Dat Nation addressed the concerns of the NFL elite.
“We understand the frustrations of the NFL,” said New Orleans Saints fan Clint Burdette who led the press conference and focused on alleviating the league’s protest over Who Dats stealing the spotlight from the Super Bowl and reducing viewership. “We talked to commissioner (Roger) Goodell, the executives, the owners. Whenever boycotting is part of the game, it’s never a good outcome for the league. We know that. They know that.”
According to Deadline, the viewership for Super Bowl LIE earned a 44.9 overnight rating nationally, the championship’s lowest numbers in a decade. It earned a ridiculously low rating of 26.2 in New Orleans, the lowest of any market and the lowest ever in New Orleans. Last year’s Super Bowl had a 55 rating in New Orleans.
The drop in fan interest was a blow to advertisers, who spent north of $5 million for a 30 second-TV spot.
“Last night, Commissioner Goodell spoke to Aubrey Rufus, a Who Dat attending Tracey’s Irish Channel Bar’s #BoycottBowl, immediately after the game. Aubry called ol’ Rog and said that it was a Super Bowl Who Dats wanted to watch. But sometimes it’s a judgment call and, unfortunately, the ball just didn’t bounce the NFL’s way this time because they’re a bunch of exploitative assholes.”
When reached for comment about the call she made, Rufus relayed to Neutral Ground News that she told Goodell that “bad ratings just happen” during a game and “good leagues find ways to overcome those TVs tuned to another show.”
“He needs to get over it. It’s really petty,” Rufus said.
Burdette noted that the commissioner was not pleased with the call nor New Orleans taking vast amounts of attention away from the league’s huge event for over two weeks let alone during the game’s actual televising.
“We understand the NFL’s emotions over the shitshow we’ve helped bring into the limelight. It’s important for the Who Dat Nation to hear that emotion, whether it’s frustration, disappointment, anger. We understand the stage. We understand the importance of it to the NFL, the owners, and the bookies. And we understand their disappointment. But we also know Who Dats are human who cheer under difficult circumstances and we are not going to get it right every time. But we frickin’ nailed this one. So you can suck it, Roger.”
Overall, New Orleans won the Super Bowl experience. Who Dats missed arguably the worst title game in history, had a better halftime show, and stuck it to the NFL in the process.
While not directly issuing an apology to the NFL for tanking the Super Bowl’s ratings and showing the rest of the nation that fans can stand up to multi-billion dollar megacorporation, Burdette said Who Dat Nation does regret its role in bringing the league down a peg.
“We regret the outcome of what we did. If we had known this is how it would turn out we would have lightened up and ‘let it go’ just a little bit so New Orleans could have ended up with a 28.3 rating.”